You Know What I Love...?

You Know what I love? ....Food. I'm a "Foodie".
I love to eat, I love when my fridge and cupboards are filled to the brim with ingredients to make delicious morsels for my family, I love the warm cooking aromas in my home, and I even love the labor of love put into cooking...but I hate grocery shopping and I hate having to figure out meals for the week in the midst of an already very busy week....so you know what I am newly in love with? This website www.e-mealz.com.
We just signed up through them to receive weekly meal planning that coincides with the weekly sales at our local grocery store. This was the first week I tried it....the weekly list gives you seven dinner meal ideas for the week along with the recipes, lists everything you need for the meals and categorizes them by departments in the store so you can easily get in and out of the store, and it tells you how much you should expect your bill to be. My bill was suppose to be $66.19. I took Luke with me and had him take a cart to put the "extra" things in that are staples for the "Foremans" so I could allocate my cart just for the items on my list to see how close my bill came to the $66.19. When the gal rang me up and the club card savings was entered ($-32.40) my bill came to $69.72...I jumped up and down, a little, I kind of did. I was so excited....I have not been able to swing 7 meals for my family for $69.72 in well...probably never, and I had upgraded a few items to organic so the $3.00 discrepancy was totally ok with me. I know we spend way too much money on food....which makes me even more in love with this program for the savings it will bring.
And....here is a picture of a chicken stir fry I made from the list....and a little something, something that was not from the list but from Luke's cart of "Foreman" staples ;)

You know what else I love????
I love being the Mom and therefore having every right to have quotes from me on bathroom walls....hopefully this is the only time my name has been on a bathroom wall. ;) I found this site www.wordsanywhere.com and was able to create my own saying and chose the font I wanted...it was actually a really fun process, and I love the end result. Luke probably does not appreciate the subliminal reminders, but I do, I love it!


I also LOVE, love walking into a store and finding unexpected treasures.....
Like theses new candle holders. I love the blue glass, I think they are so pretty and I could practically hear my family room whispering, "thank you" when I placed them on the fireplace mantle, as they are just a perfect match and definitely ups the cuteness factor in there. Ahhhh, the joys of domesticity!


But you know what I love THE MOST.....
Being with Luke yesterday when he saw his first rainbow EVER after a rainstorm we had....and it wasn't just one rainbow but it was a double rainbow.... Poor little Luke has genuinely felt ripped off in his short little life of 8 years in that he had NEVER, EVER seen a rainbow, before now. This is something we have had several conversations about over the years, his lack of "rainbow spotting in real-life "...and he's come home with tears from school when he's explained that friends of his saw one recently and AGAIN he missed out on the experience. But not yesterday......no sir! We were all snuggled in the house when out of the corner of my eye I saw a rainbow out the back windows and couldn't get the words out fast enough...."R.A.I.N.B.O.W!!!!!" and we all flew out to see it...to see both of the rainbows. Then we ran to the front and our neighbors must have thought we were nuts because Luke and I were hugging, and squealing, and marveling at the beauty of the rainbow...but also of the experience. He definitely won't forget the first time he ever saw a rainbow....nor will I forget.



I'm loving this little life of mine....

Run Forrest, Run......

Do you remember that part in the movie in Forrest Gump where Jenny tells Forrest to run from the bullies (I think that is the part) and he runs so fast and so hard that his leg braces break apart and collapse on the ground as he runs fast and free?

Well, we had our own version of that today, kinda....but minus the bullies and the braces. ;)

Actually...it was like this. Today we found ourselves having lunch at The Yard House at an outdoor mall and the boys were given frozen strawberry popsicles at the end of their meals...didn't know The Yard House did that, but anyway they do. So, instead of having their strawberry drippings all over my car we walked around a bit until they could finish them....Reid was about two-thirds of the way done with his messy drippy popsicle when I heard him squeal and then start running...

I am not talking running...I am talking "bookin it" running and like Forrest's braces exploded Reid's popsicle started exploding and red ice chips flung all over and fell to the ground as he wove himself in and out of people's legs running as fast as his own little ones would go. (I seriously had images of that movie as this was happening).

I began chasing him afraid he would fall with the popsicle stick in his mouth but then started busting up when I caught him and looked ahead to see what had caught his little eye and threw him in this frenzy...the Merry Go Round.

His eyes were huge and he was ecstatic...so of course we indulged, even big brother could not resist the cuteness of it all and accompanied Reid for a Ride.

You know what I loved sooo much about this moment....was how excited and free and engaged Reid was.

I noticed this same thing on Saturday when we were at a birthday party for a little friend at the park....he ran all over that playground and climbed the ladders and stairs to get to the slides and play equipment just like everyone else. He sat and ate pizza and cake and was acting silly and goofy like everyone else...(I love the picture of him being goofy and trying to hide his face at the table). He even sat quietly and attentively as she opened her presents, like everyone else.


And then again I noticed it at various times this past weekend, this new engagement level, as Luke and Reid were playing with nerf guns...Reid would bust up giggling when a nerf bullet hit him and he would dramatically twirl around on his feet and fall to the ground with an "awwww" as in "awww, you got me", only to get up and sign for more. Or as the two of them played secret agents with all Luke's "Spy Gear" he has acquired over the year. Luke nicknamed Reid "Stealth" for this game and gave him special missions to accomplish (which usually meant "getting" Momzilla as Luke nicknamed me). It was so fun to watch them, and so fun to watch Reid being so engaged and engaging in his own right. Though, we did hear at one point Luke ask us..."Tell me again why all my secret agents are babies??" LOL...I just love him.

....but I saw it, I noticed it......a change, a growth, a coming into his own for Reid.

As a mom who cried her eyes out when he was born, so afraid of what the future held for him, I am so full in my heart to see who he is, who he is becoming, to see him so free, so alive, so uninhibited and joyful, and so absolutely breathtakingly adorable and lovable! ....it is food to my soul!

Happy Valentines Day!

I asked Reid what his shirt said and this is what I got...he cracks me up! He is indeed a flirt and a little Romeo in every sense of the word...I just love his cute little personality.

I hope everyone is having a great day! I am enjoying my beautiful sunny southern CA day with my 3 favorite valentines...Toby, Luke, and Reid by enjoying the much welcomed sun, planting flowers in my neglected flower boxes, and preparing a yummy roast for dinner (and I am about to head out to indulge in a purchase of the "ultimate" of romantic gifts...a new dishwasher). Truth be told, I'd be doing these things anyway and don't really put too much into Valentines but it's fun to feel celebratory none the less. Below is an old picture of my "Big & Lil Romeos" taken on Reid's 1st birthday but still one of my favorites of the three of them. Hoping everyone has a love filled day...with family and friends! ;)

My Sweet Valentines!

Cwyyying... Cwyyying...

Oh I've missed you little blog of mine...you have been cast to the side while I have feverishly been trying to meet deadlines for work, but at nearly 11:30 pm I have stopped for a "cookie dough break" ;) so I figure I must give you a little attention as well to make note of a sweet moment that occurred this morning.
Today Reid and I did our usual drop off of Luke at school and the two of them did their usual hugs in the back seat and I said my usual, "I love you buddy...have a super day, see you at 3:00"....but as Reid and I drove away I heard a noise from the back seat that was not usual. At first I was just concerned with making sure I got out onto the street and into the turning lane without incident so just heard a noise but did not really concentrate on what I was hearing until I looked in the rear view mirror and I saw Reid with his little hands balled into fists and rubbing his eyes....while saying "cwyyyying, cwyyying". Oh my gosh....he was telling me he was feeling like crying because Luke, his best playmate, had to go to school. How stinking cute is that??? Seriously, this little guy just melts me. He loves his Luke so much! But you know what, not only was that soo stinking cute...but so smart. He is really starting to make some big cognitive connections lately and that was one of the first times I have seen him make a connection between his feelings and verbalizing them. Big stuff, fun stuff.
I saw a quote today that I think fits how they feel about eachother...
Sometimes being a brother is even better than being a superhero. ~Marc Brown